I refuse to allow this to become normal. No matter how many times it happens, it’s completely deranged, and we should keep calling it out. God of War Laufey‘s so-called Collector Box has been revealed (thanks PushSquare), containing a light-up statue, a 51-card deck and an art book, and…no copy of the game. Looking likely to cost around $130 (the U.S. version is yet to be announced, but the UK’s version is £130), you’ll still have to spend another $70 on top if you want to play the game the box is allegedly about.
First popping up on the Spanish PlayStation Store, the Caja de Coleccionista de God of War Laufey seemed to have leaked early, before other nations starting revealing the same, with the U.S. still to go. The box contains a resin statue of Faye fighting enemies with her long, pointy sword, complete with purple ribbon, accompanied by lit blue cubes for maximum garishness. There’s also a deck of Oracle cards, 51 in total, each with a unique illustration based on Faye’s journey, and apparently capable of Everywhen magic. And last of all there’s the requisite “mini artbook,” because for over $100 you cannot expect a full-size one. And that’s it. That’s a very expensive statuette, deck of cards, and pamphlet, and only more ridiculous when you consider you haven’t actually bought a copy of the game in the process.
Grand Theft Disco
Of course, God of War Laufey‘s deal looks positively sensible when compared to Rockstar’s reveal of a $400 GTA 6 collector’s edition that also doesn’t come with the game. But the practice remains absolutely ludicrous given it’s the difference of putting a piece of paper with a code printed onto it. Given the items in the box can’t cost much more to produce than about $60 at a push, it’s pretty grim that it’s not in there by default, even putting aside the inherent weirdness of it. And unlike GTA 6, Laufey is getting a physical release.
Making this even more strange is the debacle that occurred during the last God of War‘s release. 2023’s Ragnarok had two different (far better) special editions, the Collector’s and the Jötnar Edition, both of which were supposed to come with a download code for the full game and—inexplicably—a steelbook display case that didn’t contain a disc. This then got worse when people discovered the download code hadn’t been included. This was at least an error that Sony worked to resolve, but three years later the absence is now entirely deliberate.
As for why this ever happens, one possible reason is cost-saving. If you are selling the game on multiple consoles, you need to produce multiple versions of the collector’s edition, and that means different SKUs, different box designs, and so on. Except, Laufey is a PS5 exclusive, so this doesn’t apply at all. It simply seems to be an exercise in finding out what can be gotten away with while still making money. At least the box doesn’t contain a disc case to not put a disc in this time, I guess.